Apparatus for cooling bottled beverages



Nov. 9, 1948. F. M. LAMBERT APPARATUS FOR COOLING BOTTLED BEVERAGES 2 Sheets-Sheet l File i Feb. 19, 1946 16 C FRfi/VCAS M LFMBERZ Nov. 9, 1948. F. M. LAMBERT APPARATUS FOR COOLING BOTTLED BEVERAGES 2 Sheats-Shegt 2 Filed Feb. 19, 1946 W E W 1 n w M M .F

, together to form an evaporator.

grid has wall portions complementary in contour Patented Nov. 9, 1948 APPARATUS FOR COOLING BOTTLED BEVERAGES Francis M. Lambert, Narberth, Pa., assignor to Heintz Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pa.-, a corporation of Pennsylvania i Application February 19, 1946, Serial No. 648,730

15 Claims. 1

This invention relates to the cooling of beverage bottles and the like. More particularly the invention relates to means for holding or supporting a plurality of beverage 'bottles within a refrigera-ted cooler in such manner to effect efficient cooling of the bottled beverage by conduction.

In its specific aspects the invention is especially adapted for use in beverage bottle coolers designed to be placed in retail stores, soft drink stands, and the like, and in which coolers the beverage bottles are to be maintained in a cold condition until ready for sale. It has been found that in some types of coolers which are cooled by mechanical refrigeration, the beverage bottles sometimes become frozen to the base or side walls of the compartment in which they are placed.

The present invention obviates this and other disadvantages and provides a simple, efllcient holder or grid for the bottles'within the compartment. The holder or grid rests on the metal base of the compartment. This base may be cooled by refrigerating coils secured to its underside of the base or the base itself may be formed of two plates having passage forming depressions and secured The holder or to the surface of a bottle. Cooling of the bottles is effected by conduction through the holder or grid from the refrigerated metal base of the compartment.

Moreover, in accordance with the present invention the base of each bottle never touches the lowermost portion of the holder so that the bottles cannot become frozen to the holder. Still further, the bottle holder or grid is easily removable from the compartment and cleaning or replacement is thus facilitated.

These and other obiects of the invention will become more apparent from the following description and claims when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view showing the invention as disposed in the compartment of a beverage bottle cooler.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of a portion of one of the retainer members.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view (similar to Fig. 2) but of a preferred embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of a portion of one of the retainer members, and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged partial transverse section taken through one of the retainer members.

With reference to the drawings, the reference numeral III indicates the inner wall of a beverage bottle cooler compartment having a rectangular flat metal base I I in contact with the refrigerator coils I2. The coils l2 may be supplied with refrigerant from'a refrigerating unit (not shown) but conveniently located below the bottle compartment. If desired, the metal base may be formed of two sheets of metal having passage forming depressions and secured together to form an evaporator.

The bottle holder or grid l3 may be comprised substantially of sheet metal. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 it is preferably rectangular in shape and dimensioned so that it may be easily inserted and removed from the bottle compartment.

The holder or grid I3 has a flat sheet metal bottom it, vertical parallel side walls I5, is, and

a front wall I! which is inclined and slants inwardly from bottom to top, and a plurality of bottle retaining members such as l8, I9, 20, and 2|, which extend from side wall to side wall.

The retainer members such as 18, I9, 20, and 2| are scalloped in form having a series of arcuate substantially semi-circular portions such as IBa, I9a, 20a, 2Ia, joined by portions such as I81), I91), 20b, 2), which curve sharply in the opposite direction. From bottom to top the retainer members are inclined at an angle corresponding to the angle of the front wall II. The concave faces of the semi-circular portions have a curvature complementary to the curved wall of a beverage bottle.

The retainer members such as I8, I9, 20, 2| are preferably disposed in staggered relation with respect to each other, that is, so that the semicircular portion of one, such as life, is centered directly behind the sharply curved portion of the other, such as l8b.

Each retainer member such as l8, I9, 20, 2| is secured to the side walls I5, I6 by rivets 22 or other suitable means- The semi-circular portions such as l8a, I9a, 20a, Zia are provided at their bottom edges with lateral flanges I80, I90, 200, Zlc, bent parallel to the plane ofthe bottom It, These flanges are secured as by spot welding, brazing or the like to the bottom I4 and thus assist in securing the retainer members in place.

From Figs. 1 and 2 it will be apparent that beverage bottles such as 22 may be disposed so that they will be in substantial and intimatecontact with the concave faces of, the semi-circular portions such as i8a, I9a, 20a, 2Ia. 1

The front wall I1 is provided with a plurality of metaistrips 23. welded or otherwise secured a thin layerof water.

thereto, each of which has afdownwardly, inclined portion 24 adapted to engage the wall of a bottle and urge it into intimate contact with the concave'face of the semi-circular portion "a opposite thereto.

At the base of the retainer members such as I8, 08, 20,.2l. at their rear, a filling 25 of metal or other material may be provided with a curved surface which also tends to urge each bottle into intimate contact with the concave of the semicircular portion ofthe rearwardly adjacent re tainer member. v I The bottom I of the grid I8 is preferably pro- 4 taining members from the refrigerated metal base, of the compartment.

It will be appreciated that as a bottle is lowered into position, its base will engage the inclined web' 20 which will urge the bottle into the intimate contact with the concave face of a retaining member, as described.

If desired, the retaining members 28, 21, 28, may be Provided with drainage holes 38 disposed beneath each [bottle position.

Moreover, it is possible to cast integrally units comprising two, three, or even more retaining I members such as 26, 21, 28 together.

vided with holes lone-directly below each of the 1 positions in which a bottle may be disposed.

InFig. 2, the reference numeral 9 indicates a layer of ice. Just before the grid is placed within the bottle compartment of the cooler, a little It should be manifest that changes in the structure and arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the invention which is not intended to be limited except as indicated by the language of the claims which wateris placed on base ll of the compartment. 1

; Thus, when the grid I8 is then positioned within the compartment the bottom 14' of the grid will become frozen to the base I l of the compartment by the layer of ice 9. It will be seen, therefore,

i that the cooling of thebottles is thus effected by conduction through the retainer members [8. l8,

. 20. 2i of thegrid,' from the 'refrigerated inetal partment on which the grid basell of the 'coln is disposed. 7,

Figs. 4', 5, and. llustrate a; preferred manner of carrying out ;the invention- Here, instead 'of providing I a sheet metal grid, the invention ,em-

'ploys a series of bottle retainer members, such as 26,21, 28, which may be. of cast aluminum or the like. Oneof such members 21 is shown in perspective in Fig. 5 frornfwhicfh'itwill benoted thatit is comprised ofabasememberlfl cast integrally with the upstanding, inclined. scalloped portions. 'lhe'se latter have semi circular curved por'tionssuch as 26a, 2111,2811, and joining portionssuch as 2611,2112, 28b, curved sharply in H the opposite j direction, ,The scalloped portions H increase in'thieknessfromtopto bottom. At the rear of each mamm l-y a portion there is a small inclined webfill (see Fig. 6).

As shown in Fig. 4, the bottle retainer members i such as 26,21, 28, are formed so that when posi- I 'tioned within the vbottle compartment of a cooler,

adjacent members are in staggered relation, that is, the semi-circularcurved portions 21a of one are disposed in line with the joining portions 21b of the rearwardly adjacent retainer member. To make this possible it will be noted that the end semi-circular portion of each alternate re- 1 taining member 26, 28 is full, while the end portion of the intervening retaining members, such as 21, is a quarter circle (see Fig. 5).

mine retainlng'members 26,21, 28, first to their follow.

I claim: 1. Bottle retaining means for refrigerated beverage bottle coolers and the like comprising a plurality of retainer members adapted to be disposed in spaced parallel relationship within the cooling compartment of the cooler, each of said retainer-members being inclined upwardly at an angle from the vertical, said retainer members each being formed with a plurality of curved portions the concave faces of which face upwardly and are complementary in contour to the side wall of a bottle and provides supporting surfaces for contact with a'substantial wall area of each bottle, said curved portions of" adjacent retainer members being staggered with respect to each other, eachretainer member having an inclined surface on its rear side at the base opposite the concave face of the adjacent retainer member,

v so that when a bottle is disposed between the retainer members said inclined surface will urge the bottle into intimate contact with the concave face of the retainer member opposite it, each of said retainer members having an integral enlarged flat surfaced base portion providing support for said retainer members.

2. Bottle retaining means for refrigerated beverage bottle coolers and the like comprising a plurality of retainer members adapted to be disposed in spaced parallel relationship within the cooling compartment of the cooler, each of said retainer members being inclined upwardly at an angle from the vertical, said retainer members each being formed with a plurality of curved portions the concave faces of which are complemen-tary in contour to the side wall of a bottle,

- saidcurved portions of adjacent retainer members being staggered with respectto each other, saidretainer members each having an integral fiat base adapted to rest on the bottom of the compartment of the bottle cooler, said retainer members being of cast metal.

3. Bottle retaining means for refrigerated beverage bottle coolers and the like comprising a plurality of retainer members adapted to be disbase portion 29 and then upwardly. Beverage I bottles disposed in the same manner as in the first embodiment are-thus cooled by reason of the intimate. contact.- between one of their walls and the-concave. 'surfaces"of the semi-circular portions'such 'as21a {of the retaining members 26, 21, 28. Thus,iagain it'will be noted that the bottles are cooled by conduction through the reposed in spaced parallel relationship within the cooling compartment of the cooler, each of said retainer members being inclined upwardly at an angle from the vertical, said retainer members each being formed with a plurality of curved portions the concave faces of which are complementary in contour to the side wall of a bottle, said curved portions of adjacent retainer members being staggered with respect to each other, said retainer members each having an integral fiat base adapted to rest on the bottom of the compartment of the bottle cooler, said retainer .s members being of cast metal, and the upwardly inclined portions of said retainer members gradually diminishing in thickness from the base to the top edge. 7 I

4. Bottle retaining means as defined in claim 3. a plurality of said retainer members being integrally cast as a unit.

5. Bottle retaining means for refrigerated beverage bottle coolers and the like comprising a plurality of retainer members adapted to be disposed in spaced parallel relationship within the cooling compartment of the cooler, each of said retainer members being inclined upwardly at an angle from the vertical. said retainer members each being formed with a plurality of curved portions the concave faces of which are complementary in contour to the side wall of a bottle, said curved portions of adjacent retainer members being staggered with respect to each other, each retainer member having an inclined surface on its rear side at the base opposite the concave face of the adjacent retainer member, so that when a bottle is disposed between the retainermembers said inclined surface will urge the bottle into intimate contact with the concave face of the retainer member opposite it, said retainer members being of cast metal and each having an integral fiat base adapted to rest on the bottom of the compartment of the bottle cooler.

6. Bottle retaining means for refrigerator beverage bottle coolers and the like comprising a plurality of retainer members adapted to be disposed in spaced parallel relationship within the cooling compartment of the cooler, each of said retainer members being inclined upwardly at an angle from the vertical, said retainer members each being formed with a plurality of curved portions the concave faces of which are complementaryin contour to the side wall of a bottle, said curved portions of adjacent retainer members being staggered with respect to each other, each retainer member having an inclined surface on its rear side at the base opposite the concave face of the adjacent retainer member, so that when a bottle is disposed between the retainer members said inclined surface will urge the bottle into intimate contact with the concave face of the retainer member opposite it, said retainer members being of cast metal and each having an integral flat base adapted to rest on the bottomof the compartment of the bottle cooler, and the upwardly inclined portions of said retainer members gradually diminishing in thickness from the base to the top edge.

'7. Bottle retaining means for refrigerated bottle coolers and the like comprising a grid having a flat bottom, parallel side walls, an inwardly inclined front wall, and a plurality of retainer members extending from side wall to side wall and disposed in spaced parallel relationship to said front wall and to each other, said retainer members each being formed with a plurality of curved portions the concave faces of which are complementary in contour to a side wall of a bottle, said curved portions of adjacent retainer members being staggered with respect to each other, each retainer member having an inclined surface on its rear side at the base opposite the concave face of the adjacent retainer memher, so that when a bottle is disposed between the retainer members said inclined surface will urge the bottle into intimate contact with the concave face of the retainer member opposite it.

8. Bottle retaining means for refrigerated bota flat bottom, parallel side walls, an inwardly inclined front wall, and a plurality of retainer members extending fromside wall to side wall and disposed in spaced parallel relationship to said front wall and to each other, said retainer members each being formed with a plurality of curved portions the concave faces of which are complementary in contour to a side wall of a bottle, said curved portions of adjacent retainer members being staggered with respect to each other, each retainer member having an inclined surface on its rear side at the base opposite the concave face of the adjacent retainer member, so that when a bottle is disposed between the retainer members said inclined surface will urge the bottle into intimate contact with the concave face of the retainer member opposite it, and inclined elements disposed on the front wall near the base thereof and on the side facing a retainer member, whereby said inclined elements will urge a bottle into intimate contact with the concave face of the curved surface of the adjacent retainer member when a bottle is lowered between the front wall and said last named retainer member.

9. Bottle retaining means for refrigerated beverage bottle coolers and the like comprising a plurality of retainer members adapted to be disposed in spaced parallel relationship within the cooling compartment of the cooler, each of said retainer members being inclined upwardly at an angle from the vertical, said retainer members each being formed with a plurality of curved portions the concave faces of which are complementary in contour to the side wall of a bottle, said retainer members each having an integral flat base adapted to rest on the refrigeratedbottom of the compartment of the bottle cooler, said retainer members being of cast metal.

10. Bottle retaining means for refrigerated beverage bottle coolers and the like comprising a plurality of retainer members adapted to be disposed in spaced parallel relationship within the cooling compartment of the cooler, each of said retainer membersbeing inclined upwardly at an angle from the vertical, said retainer members each being formed with a plurality of curved portions the concave faces of-which are complementary in contour to the side wall of a bottle, said retainer members each having an integral flat base adapted to rest on the refrigerated bottom of the compartment of the bottle cooler, said retainer members being of cast metal, and the upwardly inclined portionsof said retainer members gradually diminishing in thickness from the base to the top edge.

11. Bottle retaining means for refrigerated bottle coolers and the like comprising a grid having a flatbottom, parallel side walls, an inwardly inclined front wall, and a plurality of retainer members extending from side wall to side wall and disposed in spaced parallel relationship to said front wall and to each other, said retainer members each being formed with a plurality of curved portions the concave faces of which are complementary in contour to a side wall of a bottle, each retainer member having an inclined surface on its rear side at the base opposite the concave face of the adjacent retainer member, so. that when a bottle is disposed between the retainer members said inclined surface will urge the bottle into intimate contact with the concave face of the retainer member opposite it.

12. Container cooling means comprising, a sup- 7 I P rting wall, heat absorbing means in heat exchanging relation with said supporting member removably associated with said sum!!- ing wall and having at least one wall formed to provide a plurality of similar recesses,,each recess'being arranged for receiving 'a container to be cooled, said member having a base wall at an angle to the axes of said container receiving recesses, said base wall having a lower face engageable over the greater portion or the area of its surface with said supporting wall and being arranged in heat exchange relationtherewith, and

means for urging each container into engagement container receiving wall, said second wall having a 8 allelisin and each of said recesses being arranged for receiving a container to be cooled, each of said members having a second wall at an angle to said container receiving wall, said second wall having 5 a lower face'engageable over the greater portion of the area of its surface with said supporting wall and in heat exchange relation therewith, and means for causing each container to rest in contact with the surface of a container receiving remeans forming parts of the surface of one of said members opposite the surface provided with said recesses. v

a "15. Containercooling means comprising, a sup- 15 porting wall, heat absorbing means in heat exchanging relation with said supporting wall, at least one member having one wall formed to provide a plurality of similar recesses each for receiving a container to be cooled, and a second wall 20 having a lower face closely adjacent said supporting wall, and a frozen liquid connection between said lower face and said supporting wall, whereby containers positioned in said recesses are cooled by conduction through said members, said frozen lower face engageable over the greater portion of 5 connection and said supporting wall.

the area of its surface with said supporting wall and arranged in heat exchange relation therewith, and one of each two confronting walls of said members including means for causing each container to rest in contact with the surface of a container receiving recess in the other confronting wall of such two walls.

14. Container cooling means comprising, a supporting wall, heat absorbing means in heat exchanging relation with said supporting wall, a 35 1,723,658

plurality of members each having one well formed to provide a series of similar recesses on one surface thereof, said members being arranged in par-.

FRANCIS M. LAMBERT.

REFERENCES crrnn The followin references are of record in the 30 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 583,727 Braun June 1, 1897 Quade Aug. 6, 1929 1,975,046 Larkin Sept. 25, 1943 2,312,327 Earle Mar. 2, 1943 2,356,068 Larsson Aug. 15, 1944 l0v cess of one of said-members, said last named 

